Rock Goby, Gobius paganellus

Rock Goby, Gobius paganellus

The Rock Goby, Gobius paganellus, is avery hardy active goby which does very well in the aquarium.

 

Sea Lemon, Archidoris pseudoargus, laying eggs.

Sea Lemon, Archidoris pseudoargus, laying eggs.

This particular Sea Lemon was found washed up on the tide line at Poole Harbour. I must admit I did not recognise it at first as it looked like a strange jelly like blob. It was not until a couple of days in the aquarium that it recovered, it has been fed on pieces of sponge washed up on the beach.

 

Sea Lemon eating sponge.

Common Goby, Pomatoschistus microps

Male Common Goby in Breeding colours

These Common Gobies are found on most coasts, particularly in estuaries.

Pair of Common Gobies

Male Common Goby.

 

Hermit Crab, Pagurus bernhardus, releasing larvae.

Hermit Crab, Pagurus bernhardus, releasing larvae.

This occurred late in the evening, temperature 14.7 centigrade.

 

Daisy Anemone

Here a Daisy Anemone, Cereus pedunculats, is consuming the recently moulted skin from a Shore Crab

Sea Lemon, Archidoris pseudoargus

The Sea Lemon is a sea slug that grows to about 12 cm long.

It feeds on sea sponges in particular the Bread Crumb Sponge, because of this it's not the easiest species to keep in an Aquarium as sponges have to be supplied for it to feed on.

This one was found washed up on the shore at Poole Harbour.

 

Two Spot Goby

Male Two Spot Goby

The Two Spot Goby, Gobiusculus flavescens, makes an excellent aquarium fish; it a small peaceful goby that is active & is in almost constant motion. It grows to about 4cm, the males in are very attractive with  iridescent blue markings particularly at breeding time. Only the males appear to have the two spots, one just in-front of the tail & the other above the pectoral fin. The males guard the eggs until they hatch; I have not found any fry in the aquarium as they are presumably eaten by the other inhabitants. They are short lived, living for around two years.

Male showing breeding colours.

Female with only one spot in-front of tail.

Male guarding eggs.

Chitons

Chitons resemble woodlice in appearance & can be found normally under rocks in Rock-Pools. We have 3 different species ranging from 1cm to 4cm in size. We have only managed to identify one species. They browse on the algae in the aquarium.

Chiton, Lepidochitona cinerea

Unidentified Chiton

Unidentified Chiton & Long legged spider crab.

Sea Squirts

Fluted Sea Squirt, Ascidiella aspersa

We have several species of sea squirts in the aquarium, all of which have been collected from Poole Harbour. They are easy to keep & are fed on Sea snow which is sold to feed Marine corals.

Just one word of warning do not have Sea Urchins in the same aquarium, they readily consume the softer sea squirts. 

Yellow Ringed Sea Squirt, Coina intestinalis

Leathery Sea squirt, Styela clava

Red Sea Squirt, Ascidia mentula

Fluted Sea Squirts, Ascidiella aspersa

Cold Water Marine Aquarium

Here is our well established Cold Water Marine Aquarium.

Here you can see just a few of the marine creatures which can be found on the Dorset Coast.

Two Spot Gobies, Spider Crab, Hermit Crab, Snakelock Anemones, Beadlet, Anemones, Daisy Anemones, Strawberry Anemones & Prawns.

Osmington in December

Tide receding on a warm December day.

Had a trip to Osmington in Dorset, it was a mild December day at around 9 degrees.

The water temperature was 12 degrees.

The rock pools here vary from close to the shoreline with just rocks & boulders to further out being well inhabited with colourful varieties of seaweeds, see underwater video.

We found Hermit Crabs, Rockling, Shannys, Blennies, Strawberry Anemones, Beadlet Anemones, Gem Anemones, Snakelock Anemones, Cornish Sucker Fish, Worm Pipe Fish, Sea Slaters, Edible Crabs, Shore Crabs, Porcelian Crabs, Hippolyte varians Shrimps, Prawns & Chitons. 

One of two Cornish Sucker fish found.

Shanny

Rock Goby

Strawberry Anemone

Rock Goby

Gem Anemone

Strawberry Anemone, Actina fragacea

This Strawberry Anemone, Actina fragacea, was found at Osmington, Dorset. It has decided to attach it self on the glass close to some Beadlets & Snakelocks.

It can be tough being a Hermit Crab

The smaller of these two Hermit Crabs, Pagurus bernhardus, is having a tough time of it. Firstly it appears to have lost it's front claws when changing skin & now it has chosen to exchange it's small shell for one that is far too large for it, also a larger Hermit Crab then trys to attack the smaller one. I must admit we did step in & help the little fellow, see the two videos below.